Samantha Matthews has found herself in a difficult situation. a plus size woman and now pregnant by a man she doesn't love. she can't help but be suspicious when suddenly a highly attractive foot doctor starts paying attention to her.

So… my life in
shambles. Well maybe not complete shambles, I mean I am still alive
and healthy... per say. But what else would a woman in my condition
say about her current situation besides that it seemed almost
completely hopeless.

Yes I, Samantha Eloise
Matthews was in the delicate condition. Five months into it
actually. Most would be completely ecstatic to have made it five
months into a routinely normal pregnancy, but I on the other hand,
was not.

Most women had a
helpful and joyful father to be, standing with them, joining them for
ultrasounds and Doctor's appointments. Anticipating hearing the
rapid beat of their child's heart. Not my unborn's father. He
was out gallivanting with this petite and sexy secretary… oh
sorry, executive assistant, while I was left to carry around his
deposit for almost ten months. On top of that, he hardly ever called
to inquire about the welfare of said child.

No worries though, I
fully intend to take him to court for child support. I may have been
stupid in my life choices but that doesn't make me completely
stupid. No that was actually the least of my troubles.

I am a full figured
woman. That's right and I was even before I came into my
'happy' situation. So not only was I knocked up, I am a larger
girl so you can imagine the trouble finding a date.

I often find that
people stare at me, although trying to look as though they aren't,
while riding in elevators or on buses. On an off note there, you've
never known rudeness until you're pregnant and have to take the
bus… I mean come on; I'm pregnant for god's sake. Instead I
see perfectly healthy viral young men sitting, in elderly seats no
less, while I stand, laptop and purse in one hand and the other
struggling to keep my balance while holding on to the pole. Anyway,
back to the subject at hand, they often look at me and I can see the
little mousies running in their little heads. 'Is she pregnant or
just really fat?'

Most women don't even
have to think about maternity clothes until well into month five or
six… I on the other hand was wearing those horrible elastic waist
pants at three months. Other women at five months have cute little
baby bellies, where as I look at my stomach in defeat because all it
looks like is a larger version of what I had pre-pregnancy. I keep
holding out that at seven months I'll pop like my friends
keep trying to reassure me with.

My other problems lie
in work and relationships. I'm a contractor at a fairly unknown
company which does not offer its contractual employees
maternity leave pay. I mean I really don't really like my job all
that much but the top up would have been nice.

My job is usually a
snore most days. Being a call center representative isn't exactly
the hardest job in the world. I get to wear a funky headset, I
don't have to dress up in business clothes and I can usually do
what I want, including surfing the net, in-between calls. My
contract would have ended about three months after I went on
maternity leave anyway. I know they would have extended me but I
don't know if I would have taken it.

Economy wise, there
isn't much out there, even for a college grad such as myself. And
relationships… hmpf… non existent on a normal day for a normal
person, so for me it was ten times worse. Once a guy found out you
were knocked up that was it, he's gone and outta here. See ya
people this one's a home run!

"Hey Sam, take a look
at this." I suddenly get an email into my in basket and I clicked
on the link. As soon as I saw the picture I quickly minimized it.
Although we get away with quite a bit, I don't think a supervisor
walking by would have appreciated the type of content in the 'You
tube' production.

"Judy…" I hissed
over my cubicle wall.

"What?" She stood
up to look over at me. Her dark nest of hair was mussed from her
headset. She took a lot of coffee breaks.

"You can't just
send that to people." I said, trying to not have my voice reach the
whole floor.

"Why not?" she
asked. Her eyebrows rose slightly. She sat down and then I heard
the distinctive sounds of her putting her phone on call forward. She
walked around to take a seat at an empty desk beside me. She leaned
forward in her chair. "That bastard deserves it."

"Judy, I appreciate
the fact that your pissed that I've been left alone with my
situation but you can't just start spreading stuff like that around
the office. He still works at this company."

My Ex boyfriend, yes
the father of my child, worked at the same company as me, although
not in this building or my department. It would be pretty damaging
if the You Tube video got around to too many people and guess who it
would come back to… little old innocent me.

"But he should own up
to it at least."

"Yes but posting cell
phone videos of him diddling his secretary is not going to do anybody
any good." I shook my head. "Please, for me take that down."

Judy sighed loudly.
"Okay, okay but this isn't over. The little dweeb is going to
pay."

"Yes, when I take him
to court and he has to pay me loads of money in support."

Judy smirked. She was
definitely the cutest of my friends, and the most fiery. Although
her hair was a mousey brown, it was short and curly and like I
mentioned early, messed up easily, which was why she didn't waste
time styling it. She was about five foot even, nearly four inches
shorter than I am. Not often I meet people who I dwarf so she was
definitely a keeper from the start. Her whole frame was petite too
and could often easily get on a bus for student fair. I haven't
been able to get away with that since I was in college, where I had
to flash my ID in order to pay the smaller amount. Heck, Judy even
fit into girls size sixteen clothes and didn't have to pay the tax
on it. I wasn't jealous…. But I was damn envious. Besides
being small, Judy had a wicked sense of humour and had brought me out
of dark foreboding moods on so many days.

She looked at me
curiously because of the prolonged silence. It was obvious she had
said something to which I hadn't responded in the right amount of
time appropriate.

"Sorry?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I
swear your bad habits are getting worse with pregnancy." Judy said.
"I asked if you were free tonight." She smiled.

"Its laundry night,
of course I'm free." I laughed and Judy winked.

We had a long standing
joke. For the last three years we had made a habit of making
'laundry' dates on Tuesday nights

"Okay so we'll meet
at the mat around seven?" she asked, vacating the desk chair.

"Yup, sounds good."

She winked again before
going back to her cubicle. I returned to my email, deleting Judy's
email. When I clicked maximized the web browser again, I saw right
away that it wouldn't play anymore and held a message that said
"this is no longer available, removed by user" Good old Judy,
gotta love her.

***

I found myself at the
laundry mat a bit early. Now that my wardrobe was severely
diminished, I only had one bag to lug, so I had opted to walk,
thinking it would buy me some time but I still only killed about
twenty minutes.

One thing I should
mention about myself is that I'm never on time. Although it drives
me crazy I always end up late for things. I mean, I really do try
but something always happens to me. Once I was late for a social
function because some lady let her little poodle use my leg as a
toilet and I had to change not only my shoes but my panty hose. On
my way up the stairs to my apartment I had tripped and managed to
bust my lip open. When I finally arrived at the function my lip was
swollen, red and scabbed and I had changed my entire outfit. Really…
true story.

So needless to say, me
showing up early anywhere is a true miracle and should be on one of
those shows. There was no one in the mat when I got there and I was
relieved because I could throw all my clothes into one oversize
washer and save a dollar fifty. It really is a rip off. The extra
large washers are three bucks but my one large load, when the mat was
full, fit into two of the 'large' washers which were two
twenty-five each. Who came up with that logic? Really?

I stuffed it all in,
not even caring if my socks were inside out, dumped in a cup of soap
and the coins and watched the soapy water fill the glass front. When
I was satisfied the damn machine wasn't going to start overflowing
on me (yes it has happened to me before… long story for another
time) I sat down on the bench and attached my IPod headphones. One
of the few luxuries had I had allowed myself to buy. My computer and
my IPod. Damn I didn't care if my TV equipment was from when
dinosaurs ruled the earth as long as I had something to surf and
write with and something else to give me good tunes and I was happily
sedated.

Seeing as though the
whole mat was empty and the blinds had been drawn on the front
windows. The owners of this place were real sticklers about privacy
and all that. I guess it was nice because some strange guy couldn't
stand at the window and stare at your skivvies. When a particular
good song came on, I couldn't help but start to groove a little…I
mean who was going to see me anyway right? Besides maybe Judy if she
came in but she was used to me.

So imagine the next
scene. Me, five months pregnant, getting down in a laundry mat when
the volume full blast not able to hear the sound of the bell above
the door indicating that someone else had invaded my private dance
session. I turned at almost the same moment to be absolutely
horrified at the fact that a large, handsome man smiling with
amusement at me. I instantly took the head phones off. I didn't
know for sure but I would bet a million dollars at that instant my
cheeks changed three shades of scarlet.

"Don't stop on my
account." He said the amusement still in his voice as he set down
his laundry basket in front of one of the washers.

"Ahh." Was all I
could manage. I mean, who says anything remotely logical when that
embarrassed.

He looked up and then
saw my rounded stomach and his smile changed from amusement to one of
politeness. He had obviously guessed that I was preggers and not
just a fat girl boogying down.

"Sorry." I
struggled out.

"No worries. Your
secret is safe with me. Although I'm sure the security camera got
a good show." He pointed up to the corner of the room where the
little green light blinked. Now my embarrassment was ten times worse
because now Mr. & Mrs. Gold would be able to view my show.

"The owners are used
to me by now." I said, shrugging my shoulders and putting my IPod
back in my purse.

"Come here a lot
then?"

"Yeah, my girlfriend
and I have been coming here for about three years now."

"Oh…" he looked
at my stomach again. "Oh…" he said.

"No…" I said,
realizing that he just thought that when I said girlfriend it
meant actually girlfriend. "My Girl who is a friend. I'm not a
lesbian."

He laughed because now
he was embarrassed. "Sorry… I guess we're even then." He
turned from the machine he was at to offer me his hand. "I'm
Rockland."

"Rockland?" I asked
with eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, Yeah I know.
It's a really weird name. Blame my parents. I go by Rock most of
the time."

"Well Rock," I took
his hand in mine. "I'm Sam."

"As in Samantha?"

I nodded. "Yeah my
parents are just stuffy, not weird."

He laughed and I put a
hand to my mouth. I hadn't meant to let my mouth run and
accidently insult his parents.

"No worries. I know
my parents are weird… but you gotta love them. They are great
people and I was their only boy."

"So you have a sister
then?"

"Five actually."

"Wow."

"I'm the youngest."
He closed the door on the washer and put in his money and soap.

"I have a sister.
She's younger, but only by ten months."

He raised an eyebrow.

"It was a big
surprise to my father for sure. My mom goes for a check up with me
and finds out she's already pregnant again. Not something you
expect after just giving birth."

"So your mom had
what, like only a few weeks reprieve?"

"Yeah… needless to
say she was done after my sister was born and made my dad get the big
V done."

He laughed. "Maybe
my parents should have done that."

"I'm sure you love
your big family."

"Well being the
youngest of 5 women and they're all married with kids. I get
stressed on about when I'm joining that club."

"So I guess no
takers?"

"No, not yet."

I heard my washer start
the rinse cycle and still no Judy. A glance at my cell phone
indicated that it was 7:15. It was so unlike Judy to be late for our
date.

"Expecting someone?"
Rock asked. I looked up suddenly.

"Oh, yeah."

"Husband, boyfriend?"

"Don't have
either."

He raised his eyebrows.
"Really?" he glanced at my stomach again.

"Yeah he's an
asshole and left me for a prettier, younger and un-pregnant
woman."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm
not. I may not have planned on being a single mother but it does
have some benefits."

"Like?"

"I don't have to
put with the jerk and I can do what I want in raising my child."

He shrugged. "Don't'
take any offence but I always believed that a child should have a
father and a mother."

"Me too, but well we
can't always control everything in our lives."

"Too true. So how far
along are you?" he asked.

"Five months."

"Really?"

"Yeah I know. It's
hard to tell if I'm Prego or just fat. I get that a lot."

"No, I was going to
say that you were a little farther along."

It was my turn to raise
an eyebrow at him.

"I wasn't implying
that you were fat or anything." He said, trying to back peddle.
"It's just… oh shit."

I started to laugh.
"It's alright. I know you weren't meaning to be insulting."

"It's hard to say
anything like that around pregnant women. My sisters were all
horrible."

"So you have
experience?"

"Yeah but I didn't
learn anything from it."

I glanced at my cell
phone again. 7:20 now. Where in the world was Judy? Not that I
needed someone else to distract me from this devilishly de-lish man,
but for a girl who is never late I did worry. I picked up the phone
and dialed her number.

"Hello?" she
answered, sounding out of breath.

"Judy?"

"Yeah… Sam?"

"Hi, where are you?"

"Oh." There was a
squeak to her voice. "I won't be able to come. I was actually
going to call you. Something's come up."

"Like what?"

There was a moment of
silence that could only mean my small friend was hiding something.
"I ran into an old friend."

"Uh huh."

"Sam…"

"Have fun with Rodney
and I'll see you at work tomorrow."

Judy laughed. "How
did you know?"

"Because I heard that
he was coming into town. He only sends every one of his
acquaintances a friggin poster card when he does."

"The email wasn't
that big."

"I could have fit it
on a sign on the highway and the astronauts could have seen it from
space."

She chuckled again.
"I'll tell him you said hi."

I laughed and hung up.

While I had been
chatting, Rock had begun putting more clothes into another washer.

"So I guess I'm
stag."

"Friend not coming?"

"No." I was
envious of her, On again, off again relationship with Rodney Miller.
He was a fashion photographer and wasn't home for very long but
Judy didn't want to be permanently attached to him because he was
gone for months. Most people thought he was gay but really, it was
just the fashion world rubbing off on him. Although I craved a more
lasting commitment from a guy, I would be willing to have anything
right now.

"Well I can't
foresee any one else coming into this place at this time of night, so
I guess it's just you and Me." he said.

"I guess so."

"So what do you do?"

"I work at a call
center."

He laughed. "I take
it that's not what you want to do though."

"I have a diploma in
creative writing and business."

"Oh."

"Yeah but you can't
really make much money with that."

"Have you ever
written anything?"

"I have a few things
started on my computer but I've never submitted anything
professionally if that's what you mean." I leaned against the
counter because my back was starting to protest the long time
standing. "What do you do?"

"I'm a podiatrist."
He said.

"Really?"

"Yup."

"You don't look
like a foot doctor."

He laughed again and I
knew it was genuine this time because the smile reached his creamy
green eyes. Did I mention that he was completely hot?

"Yes well I guess
guys like me usually end up being either 'Dr McDreamy' or Sports
figures right?"

"Well no…"

He raised his eyebrows
again. I was starting to notice a trend. He did that to get me to
answer him without really asking.

"I mean well you
could be anything I just never expected a guy that looked at feet all
day."

"Well you don't
look like a call center person either."

"Thanks," I said
with a sarcastic edge to my voice, "That was what I was trying to
go for."

This was enough to
cause him to break into loud genuine laughter. I chuckled a little
too. Laughter could be contagious.

The Radio in the mat,
which had previous gone unnoticed until this moment was playing one
of my favourite songs.

"Hey Now, Hey now…"
I sang lightly with it.

I looked up and
realized that Rock had been mouthing the words.

"I like Crowded
House." He said, singing the chorus again.

"Me too. I'm an
80's freak." One of my many weaknesses

He smiled and he
started to play air guitar which caused me to smile.

We continued to sing
the rest of the song until it ended and we both smiled at each other.
It was one of those moments you only see in movies, when the lead
actress realizes she's met the love of her life and somehow the guy
gets the same feeling. My fantasy was interrupted not only by the
startling buzz of my washer but by an awful prince song which caused
Rock to grimace.

"Not all 80's music
was good." He commented.

I only nodded and
turned to deal with my wet laundry. Could it really be that after
sharing a conversation and a good song had me realizing that maybe
this man was a god send? I mean he probably didn't feel the same
way, who falls for a girl you meet in a laundry mat? He probably
had some weird fetish.

I put my laundry into a
dryer and put in my coinage. The dryer was always cheaper for some
reason. I guess because it only used electricity whereas the washer
used electricity and water. Regardless, it was still the
cheapest mat in my neighbourhood.

I turned and Rock was
standing, or rather leaning against the counter, watching his
laundry flop around in the washer. You had to be careful with that;
sometimes the washer could hypnotize you. Really, it happened to a
friend of Judy's. They had to have medical people come in and haul
him away. Now he has a service do his laundry. True story.

"So besides sitting
behind a desk, being jilted by your baby daddy and loving 80's
music, what else do you like?" he asked without looking at me.

"I love fast food, in
case you didn't notice."

He smirked and turned
his head toward me. "Do you always use your weight as an excuse
for everything?"

"No…"

"You shouldn't. I
think you're a pretty cool person. I don't even see the weight."

I know he meant it as a
genuine comment but it's not really something a fat girl wants to
hear. You've got a great personality. I mean… come on.

"Uh, thanks."
Seeing now that I had misplaced my thoughts earlier about him being a
gift from the heavens I returned to my bag to fetch my smutty romance
novel. If I wasn't getting any in real life I could at least
imagine some.

"Ug. I'm sorry. I
know that was pretty lame." He came to sit beside me on the bench.
"I never know what to say to women and I see I'm messed it up
pretty good."

"It's alright…"

"No, it's not.
I'm trying to get in your good books and so far I've just
insulted you."

"It's okay. It
takes a special brand of guy to be genuinely interested in a girl
like me."

He shook his head.
"There, see your doing it again. There isn't anything wrong with
your size."

I smiled to myself and
put the book down to look at him. "Let's be honest. You're
not attracted to me because I'm a larger woman."

"You're not as
large as you think you are, besides your pregnant, I'm sure some of
that extra-ness is baby."

Okay so he was starting
to turn into an alright guy.

"So what? You are
attracted to me?"

He laughed.
"Surprisingly yes."

I couldn't help but
laugh too. "Surprisingly?"

"Well I never thought
that I would feel this way about a pregnant woman."

"So it isn't the
plus size that scares you it's the baby?"

He nodded. "I'm
sorry if that sounds superficial. I think you're very good
looking."

Okay he was turning
into a really good guy.

"Not something I
expected from a man I met a laundry mat."

"Yeah well…"

I instantly thought of
something. "If you're a doctor… don't you have like a big
house with your own washing machine?"

He shook his house.
"Promise you won't laugh…"

"I'm not making any
promises."

"I still live at
home."

There is was… the
quirk as to why he was still single.

I didn't laugh.

"I know it's pretty
lame but well I'm a big Momma's boy."

Oh no.

"I see by your lack
of response that this isn't getting me any brownie points."

"Ah… I just never
expected…"

"I know. Well
everyone has a fault I guess. I can't say no to my parents. All
my sisters have moved out and every time I mention finding my own
place, my father won't hear of it."

I guess in a way it was
noble, I mean he was too sweet to refuse his parents but then again,
my mother had balled her eyes out the day I moved out. She had even
called me after a week to say that my room was still open if I
couldn't handle it.

"I have to grow a
backbone and tell them I'm leaving. Especially if I plan on my own
family one day."

"And I guess you have
thought of that."

"Yes, but I haven't
really had any serious relationships so my parents don't believe
me."

So maybe it's just
me, but is it unusual to meet a guy in a laundry mat and before your
clothes are done you know most of his life story? He is very good
looking. I'm not into those chiseled guys. His face still had
some "baby" fat on it and maybe his eyebrows could use a little
grooming but his lips were full and sooo kissable. And his eyes… I
mean I have never seen eyes that colour. I couldn't even think of
something the same colour. They were just a light green that was
creamy instead of vibrant. I mean in certain lights I guess you
could mistake it for blue. I didn't see much of his body. He
wasn't exactly Fabio or anything… but his arms seemed
bigger than my legs… being a fat girl I have pretty big thighs. If
that was any indication I'm sure the rest of his body was nothing
to complain about. And I mean… how many guys would sing a Crowded
House song with you? Not many I've ever known. Not even my
metro-sexual friend Rodney liked 80's music.

"Well the baby's
dad is the only one I've had that I thought was serious…" How
much of a mistake was that to believe?

"Maybe he just
thought you were easy."

I shrugged. "I
should have held out."

"How long were you
with him?"

"Six months, then as
soon as I mention the P word to him, he splits. Now he and Julia are
having a great old time. From what I hear she can't have kids so
he's safe there."

He shook his head. "He
does sound like an asshole."

"Well if the shoe
fits…"

"Need me to rough him
up a bit for ya?" he asked jokingly.

"Believe it or not,
my friend Judy is the bull dog of my friends."

"That's cool."

I laughed and pulled
out my wallet. Last year Judy had insisted on getting professional
pictures done where they do your makeup and arrange your wardrobe. I
had to admit that it had been a confidence booster. I opened up my
wallet the picture of me and her. We were standing in the picture
so you could obviously see how small she really is. I showed the
picture to Rock and he looked at me with a question in his eyes.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. She once
ran down a guy that made a nasty comment about me. He regretted ever
saying anything and after she had him down on the ground with his arm
painfully twisted in a bad angle did he apologize."

Rock started to laugh.

"I'm not kidding."

"That little thing
was able to take down a full sized man."

"Oh yeah. I would
say he had to have been at least 6 foot, 220."

True Story… No
kidding.

"Wow… well remind
me not to piss her off."

I smiled. I took my
wallet back from him and glanced at the picture before closing it.
I had looked pretty hot in that picture. Most pictures of me I had
something in my hand. Why was it that friends always choose to take
pictures of you at the most un-opportune times? You know those ones
where you have a mouth full of food or your mouth is open? Or you
doing some weird ass pose?

The Dryer took that
opportunity to buzz to say it was done. My cotton clothes didn't
take long to dry. I really did miss the jeans that made by butt
look good, or the tops that sucked in my gut. Of course they needed
more delicate cycles and had to hang dry. Now, they were carefully
packed away in my storage space.

I started to stuff the
clothes back in the laundry bag.

"You don't fold
your clothes?" he asked.

"Most have to be hung
up or ironed anyway." Ha. Like I ironed. If you hung something up
long enough in a steamy bathroom it usually started to go straight.
Besides, you wear something that's been ironed and five seconds
later it's wrinkled again anyway.

"Oh…" he looked
disappointed. I guess he wanted to have an opportunity to talk to me
more.

"I come every
Tuesday." I offered.

I suddenly realized
that he hadn't actually answered my question about why he was in a
laundry mat. If he lived with his parents at their house, wouldn't
they have a washer and dryer?

"Well this really is
only a temporary solution. I guess I drifted off in my talking. My
parents' machines are in being fixed. My mother told me to wash
it manually and hang dry abut I'm lazy."

I laughed. Had he just
read my mind?

"Well I could give
you my number." I offered. Oh my god… was I trying to make a
move. Does it seem wrong for a pregnant woman to want to get it on
with a stranger?

"Sure…"

Like he would call me
anyway.

I pulled out a pad and
scribbled down my home and cell numbers and handed it to him.

He took and slipped it
into his pants pocket. Hmm, would he remember he put the paper or
would it mysteriously end up in the washer and turn into mush?

"I'll call you."
He said.

I pulled the drawstring
on my canvas laundry bag tight. A little too tight because it rubbed
painfully against the skin on my index finger. I bit my lip. I
was already embarrassed enough, no need to cry out over something so
superficial. I waved at him.

"Nice to meet you
Sam."

"You too." And I
left. Maybe a little too quickly but the cool air helped my head
clear a little. Could it really be possible for a girl like me to
get a guy like that?

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